NAVY NEWS, MARCH 2008 17
Samples can
help with ID
SAILORS and Royal Marines
Best in show
are being urged to volunteer
their DNA to ease the process
of identifi cation should they be
BASKING under the
of Guinness downed).
killed in action or accidents.
Whitehall would like anyone
beams of powerful
Many of those people
deploying to an operational
fl oodlights, another
wandering around Exeter’s
hallowed passageways
theatre – Service personnel day ends for HMS in the January cold
or MOD civilian staff – to offer
Exeter at the 2008
attended the boat
samples, care of swabs taken
from inside the mouth.
London Boat
show solely to see the
At present only aircrew and
Show.
Falklands veteran.
When not hosting
men and women involved with
Exeter was,
dignitaries and
flying duties provide samples.
without doubt, the
guiding the
The MOD wants to make
largest and most
public around the
identification in the event of
expensive craft on
destroyer, the
death failsafe.
show... and the
ship’s company
In some instances, such
only one to have
wandered through
as an air accident, traditional
shot down enemy
the cavernous
methods of identification such
aircraft in battle.
ExCel centre in
as using dental records cannot
The show has been
No.1s – and were
give conclusive the proof
the preserve of the Type
invariably buttonholed by
offered by DNA.
23 frigate fleet in recent years;
visitors.
Personnel who volunteer
in fact, Exeter was the first
They did, however, find
will see their samples stored
destroyer to visit the event
time to clamber on to some of
at the RAF Centre of Aviation
in the heart of London’s
the luxury yachts on display,
Medicine in Bedfordshire.
docklands.
whose interiors were “like a
The samples will not be
Getting into King George
five-star hotel” (just like Exeter,
analysed or logged on a
V Dock was, we’re told
then – Ed).
database; they will simply be
“challenging” as the inclement
“I’ve never seen anything
stored and analysed only when
January weather raged.
like them – it was amazing
post-mortem identification is
Indeed the show opened in
to see the glamour of these
required.
pouring rain, which meant the
multi-million-pound yachts.
Samples can be destroyed
Band of the Royal Marines
I just wish I could afford
at the written request of the
could be found inside the
one,” lamented LS Michelle
person who has given them, or
ExCel exhibition centre
Coleman.
when they leave the Service/
providing appropriate musical
Actually, she probably
after 45 years, whichever is
accompaniment for the
could. The cheapest craft on
sooner.
opening ceremony (the weather
sale was a £545 dinghy (the
More details can be found in
cleared up sufficiently later for
priciest, a £11½m Sunseeker
DIN 2007 01-146 DNA Sampling
the musicians to perform on
yacht, was just out of her price
Policy.
the quay next to Exeter).
range though).
The ship herself was opened
Such dreams of luxury
Daring folk in
to visitors throughout the
on the high seas have now
show; aside from tours of the
evaporated. Exeter sailed
upper deck, tourists were also
straight from London for The
Guernsey
permitted to tour some of her
Rock where she’s being used
superstructure, including the
to train budding principal
bridge.
warfare officers in the art, er,
In excess of 2,000 people
THE good people of the island
of warfare.
climbed Exeter’s gangway
of Guernsey should sleep easy in
every day of the ten-day event
their beds... they have the most
– that’s one in every six visitors
potent anti-air warfare ship in the
to the show (and 16,000 more
● Night and day... HMS Exeter
world as their guardians.
people than the Volvo Ocean
lit up at night at the London
Already affiliated to the City of
race simulator got... but 15,000
Boat Show
Birmingham, Type 45 destroyer
less than the number of pints
Picture: LA(Phot) Alex Cave,
HMS Daring is now bound for
FRPU Whale Island
life with the Channel Island.
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir
Jonathon Band agreed that the
warship, currently in the latter
stages of fitting out on the Clyde,
could be affiliated with Guernsey.
‘‘If they didn’If they didn’tt have it, we didn’t have it’
“The island community knows
better than most the importance
of the Royal Navy in today’s
RECREATED down to the last detail.
sleeping in the canoe during the day with a camoufl age
uncertain world,” said Guernsey’s
Same clothes. Same boat. Same route.
net over us.
Lieutenant Governor – and Same month.
“All our clothing and kit were exactly as they
had, or as close as we could get. It was really hard to
retired vice admiral – Sir Fabian Marines Lee Hanmore and Rich ‘Reg’ Melia set
research it, the information just isn’t around any more
Malbon. out on a cold night in December to recreate that epic
or wasn’t recorded in the fi rst place.
“I know from personal journey to the shipyards of Bordeaux by the Cockleshell
“It was a real buzz paddling into Bordeaux. We
experience that the people of heroes in Exercise Frankton Remembered.
were fi ghting against the current a little bit. You could
Guernsey will give Daring a Mne Hanmore said: “It wasn’t about me and Reg –
even feel the buzz from the safety team in their boat.
warm welcome whenever she is all our focus was on the memory of the original guys.
“The harbour wasn’t all that different from their
able to visit.” That was just as important as the paddle itself.
day. If you look in the accounts, the fi rst thing they
After first-rate sea trials off
“If we wanted to put ourselves into their shoes, we
saw were some cranes. Those are still there today. It
Scotland last summer, Daring
had to go back to absolute basics. If they didn’t have
was quite weird really.
returned to BAE Systems’ yard at
it, we didn’t have it.”
“We were suprised by how lit up it was, how they
Scotstoun for continuing work to
Of the 12 men originally intended for the dangerous
managed to get in and out without being seen. That
finish her.
mission, only ten set out after one canoe was damaged
river is a big place, but even so, it was a remarkable
She is due back at sea this
getting it out of the submarine HMS Tuna.
achievement.
spring for further trials and will
Capsizing, cold, capture and death were the fate
“We got a few interested looks when we paddled in
pay her first visit to her future
of six of the men, while four made it to plant limpet
to Bordeaux with our hoods up in the rain from some
home of Portsmouth later this
mines on the enemy shipping in Bordeaux harbour.
French people wandering along the quayside.”
year.
Only Major ‘Blondie’ Hasler and Mne Bill Sparks
Arrival in Bordeaux was not the end of the exercise
Daring is due to commission
eventually made it back to England alive.
as the two marines attended commemorative events
in 2009.
“We never capsized, although very nearly on the
with veterans associations, and visited memorials
York enjoys
fi rst landing in the fi rst night – six foot waves on the
around Bordeaux: “We laid wreaths at the places
beach,” said Mne Hanmore. “Even the safety boat where the guys who were captured were executed.
couldn’t get in.” “I’m 99 per cent certain we’re the fi rst team to
big package
“It was cold, but nothing that we haven’t come repeat it as originally done – at night, in December,
across before. All it did was rain the whole time. in World War 2 kit.
Exactly the same as it did for them. “People have been really supportive in the Corps.
“The longest leg, 28 miles, was the second one. The It took a while to get it together – lots of issues
HMS York will be out of action
conditions were absolutely horrendous with waves safetywise, etc. No one was really sure how to do it.
for the next year as she undergoes
coming from all angles. We were rolling and pitching “Then Capt Matt Pinkney RM got involved. He
a £17m overhaul in Portsmouth.
all over the place. The waves would hit the side then worked really hard and really helped us out.”
It’s been four years since the
splash up in the air and into the canoe. Mne Hanmore plans to mark the raid once more in
destroyer was last revamped.
“After fi ve and a half hours I was sitting up to my December 2012, and is looking for more commandos
This latest major package of
waist in water.” to take up the challenge in memory of the heroes of
work is aimed at all parts of the
He added: “We were paddling over fi ve nights, Operation Frankton.
White Rose ship.
Her Sea Dart launcher is being
ripped out... and replaced with a
refurbished one.
The computer/comms system
will also be completely revamped
with fresh cables laid throughout
the ship.
The engines will receive some
TLC and a transom flap – a sort
of underwater spoiler – is to be
fitted on the stern to increase
York’s speed without increasing
her fuel consumption.
A team of 100 engineers
and shipwrights from FSL, the
Portsmouth support and repair
organisation, will also give
mess decks and living spaces a
makeover.
York will be in dry dock until ● Cold but at least dry... Mnes Lee Hanmore (left) and Rich ‘Reg’
August and will not return to the Melia take a break from paddling the Gironde to pose in their
Fleet until March 2009. authentic 1942-era commando kit Picture: BBC
0017_NN_Mar.indd 117_NN_Mar.indd 1 220/2/08 08:22:080/2/08 08:22:08
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